code

[ kohd ]

noun

1. a system for communication by telegraph, heliograph, etc., in which long and short sounds, light flashes, etc., are used to symbolize the content of a message:

   Morse code.

2. a system used for brevity or secrecy of communication, in which arbitrarily chosen words, letters, or symbols are assigned definite meanings.
3. indirect wording that is euphemistic, deceptive, or opaque:

   The firm says its testing methodology is “proprietary”—which some believe is code for “hidden from scrutiny.”

4. any set of standards set forth and enforced by a local government agency for the protection of public safety, health, etc., as in the structural safety of buildings building code, health requirements for plumbing, ventilation, etc. sanitary code or health code, and the specifications for fire escapes or exits fire code.
5. a systematically arranged collection or compendium of laws, rules, or regulations.
6. any authoritative, general, systematic, and written statement of the legal rules and principles applicable in a given legal order to one or more broad areas of life.
7. a word, letter, number, or other symbol used in a code system to mark, represent, or identify something:

   The code on the label shows the date of manufacture.

8. Computers.
   1. a set of symbols that can be interpreted by a computer or piece of software: Java code;

      binary code;

      Java code;

      ASCII code.

   2. the symbolic arrangement of statements or instructions in a computer program, or the set of instructions in such a program:

      That program took 3000 lines of code.

9. any system or collection of rules and regulations:

   a gentleman's code of behavior.

10. Medicine/Medical. a directive or alert to a hospital team assigned to emergency resuscitation of patients.
11. Genetics. genetic code.
12. Linguistics.
    1. the system of rules shared by the participants in an act of communication, making possible the transmission and interpretation of messages.
    2. (in sociolinguistic theory) one of two distinct styles of language use that differ in degree of explicitness and are sometimes thought to be correlated with differences in social class. Compare elaborated code, restricted code.

verb (used with object)

, cod·ed, cod·ing.

1. to translate (a message) into a code; encode.
2. to categorize or identify by assigning a code to:

   All specimens were coded prior to the test.

3. to arrange or enter (laws or statutes) in a code.
4. Computers. to write code for (a computer program or application) (often followed by up ):

   Hire a programmer to code up a website for you.

verb (used without object)

, cod·ed, cod·ing.

1. Genetics. to specify the amino acid sequence of a protein by the sequence of nucleotides comprising the gene for that protein:

   a gene that codes for the production of insulin.

2. Computers. to write computer code.

code

/ kəʊd /

noun

1. a system of letters or symbols, and rules for their association by means of which information can be represented or communicated for reasons of secrecy, brevity, etc See also genetic code

   binary code

   Morse code

2. a message in code
3. a symbol used in a code
4. a conventionalized set of principles, rules, or expectations

   a code of behaviour

5. a system of letters or digits used for identification or selection purposes

verb

1. to translate, transmit, or arrange into a code

code

/ kōd /

1. A system of signals used to represent letters or numbers in transmitting messages.
2. The instructions in a computer program. Instructions written by a programmer in a programming language are often called source code . Instructions that have been converted into machine language that the computer understands are called machine code or executable code .
3. See also programming language

code

1. A series of instructions designed to be fed into a computer .

Other Words From

• cod·er noun
• code·less adjective
• pre·code verb (used with object) precoded precoding
• re·code verb (used with object) recoded recoding
• sub·code noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of code¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin cōdex “book”; codex none

Word History and Origins

Origin of code¹

C14: from French, from Latin cōdex book, codex

Example Sentences

Within the Sardinia blue zone, one study found centenarians and near-centenarians were more likely to carry a specific form of the gene TAS2R38, which codes for a protein involved in bitter taste response.

From Science Magazine

According to the indictment, the defendants, in keeping track of their bribes to Indian officials, used “code names” for different participants in the scheme.

From New York Times

The Commons Standards and Privileges Committee ruled the ministerial code had been broken because the trip had not been declared immediately.

From BBC

These DNAm changes can turn genes on or off without changing the DNA code.

From Science Daily

Some newly identified sites actually occur in the coding sequence of the gene that becomes an mRNA.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• author
• program
• write